When I was a kid, I had a rather ghoulish fascination with St. Rita of Cascia. The real and important story behind St. Rita—what made her a saint—was a tale of patience, obedience, and the ability to bring about peace at a time of great unrest between two warring political factions. But what captured my attention were the images portraying her later in life with a thorn protruding from her forehead. Rita was in her sixties when it appeared one day while she was deep in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.